


insomnia

by adorer



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Caught, Dirty Talk, Double Penetration, Fingering, M/M, OT4, Oral Sex, Rimming, dom!Louis, foursome??, he kind of just left??, i couldn't incorporate him, i'm v sorry about niall, sub!Harry, this is literal smut ok not even kidding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 08:29:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1184106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adorer/pseuds/adorer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis shifts - stirring, brushing his thumb against Harry's shoulder, and giving his foot a nudge under the duvet. 'Alright?' He murmurs sleepily, pressing a feather-light kiss to Harry's forehead.<br/>'Can't sleep,' Harry mumbles back, drawing gentle, aimless circles over the middle of Louis' chest with his index finger. </p><p>or, harry can't sleep and louis's really not dealing with that. something else goes down too, and the night takes a completely unexpected turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. i'm losing sleep

It's 2 am, and Harry can't sleep. The room is silent, all except for the heavy breathing, light snoring, and shifting of bodies against blankets from through the doorway, and Harry's starting to wonder if he's the only one awake. The boys are all in Louis and Harry's hotel room, where they'd spent a night together joking around, watching movies and talking. There may have been some alcohol involved; but not enough to do any damage. 

Liam had called it a night at midnight, reminding everyone that they had a few interviews coming up this week and it wouldn't be a good look if all the boys could do was muffle a yawn and answer restlessly. 

Zayn had reluctantly clambered off Liam's lap and downed the last of his beer before wandering over to the TV and flicking on a movie to play in the background. The boys had been too tired to amble back to their own rooms, so had shuffled themselves around to assume various positions in the room. Louis and Harry had taken the double bed with no argument from the others; Niall had dragged himself out from under Liam's arm and claimed he had to go and meet some friends (at midnight?), crashing out of the room with no decency what-so-ever; Zayn had taken the couch in the main room and folded it out into a sofa bed; and Liam had tugged a couple of blankets down from a shelf in the wardrobe, thrown one at Zayn who mumbled a muffled “thanks Li”, and then proceeded to curl up in an armchair. That was over two hours ago now, and Harry's still wide awake. 

 

Harry sighs and rolls over, curling into Louis' bare chest. Louis' arm is still slung around Harry's shoulder, holding him close like he can't bear to let go in case he might disappear. Harry hasn't slept at all over the past two hours - hasn't even drifted off for a few minutes at a time; and he can't even figure out why. He's tired from a long day and comfortable in Louis' warm embrace, so why hasn't he fallen asleep yet? 

Suddenly, Louis shifts - stirring, brushing his thumb against Harry's shoulder, and giving his foot a nudge under the duvet. 'Alright?' He murmurs sleepily, pressing a feather-light kiss to Harry's forehead. 

'Can't sleep,' Harry mumbles back, drawing gentle, aimless circles over the middle of Louis' chest with his index finger. 

'What's wrong?' Louis asks quietly, voice rough, blinking his eyes open to peer down at the curly haired boy bundled against him. Harry shrugs, looking up to meet Louis' eyes. 

Harry lifts himself up off of Louis' chest and slides up the bed until his head is level with Louis' on the pillow. 'Stressed, maybe,' he considers, lifting his head up so Louis can claim his arm back. Louis stretches it out in front of him and yawns, resting it back onto the blanket. He turns his head to look at Harry, and through the dim light of the lamp to his left, Harry can almost make out a faint shimmer in his boyfriend's eyes. 

'Well, we can't have that now, can we?' Louis whispers, a smirk curling at his lips. 

Turning onto his side to lean onto his elbow, Louis raises an eyebrow at Harry. Harry chuckles lightly and rolls himself on top of Louis, knocking him onto his back and pressing their lips together. Louis kicks back the sheets and duvet beneath them so they're less restricted, and Harry complies by breaking the kiss and straddling Louis' hips. Harry braces himself by placing a hand either side of Louis' head, Louis automatically gripping his hands over Harry's back. 

Harry leans down for Louis' lips, and skims his tongue over them until Louis opens his mouth. Harry pushes his tongue in teasingly and rolls his hips down over Louis', already feeling the reaction of his actions in the tenting of Louis' boxers. Louis groans into Harry's mouth, fully alert now, the sound muffled as he lets the sensations of Harry grinding down onto him and the hot, wet kisses he's planting down Louis' jaw wash over him. Harry moves back up to Louis's lips, smirking into their embrace as Louis trails his fingers down Harry's back and down into his boxers, cupping his ass and squeezing. Harry moans louder than intended and bites into Louis' bottom lip, his fingers curling into the bed sheet in pleasure. Louis bucks his hips up and forces Harry's ass down with his hands, their hips clashing together. 

Harry starts circling down desperately on Louis, who trails his hands back up Harry to grab onto his hair, tugging perilously and drawing his head down for a kiss. 

' _Harry_ ,' Louis moans breathlessly, pulling back and burying his face into his neck. 

 

 

Zayn flips over onto his back and sighs, staring up into the darkness. He's been awake for probably fifteen minutes now, and can't get back to sleep. He'd crashed as soon as he'd wrapped the blanket Liam had lobbed at him over himself, and slept for a good two hours; but now he's awake again. The light buzz of the alcohol he'd consumed earlier still lingering, Zayn considers heading out to the balcony for a smoke - but decides against it when he realises they're all the way back in his own room.

A loud moan suddenly reverberates around the room, followed by a series of quiet groans and the slight creak of the double bed. The noises are all too familiar; sex between Louis and Harry being a frequent thing. At least they have the decency to do it in their own room - although they could've closed the door first. 

Zayn tells himself he won't get hard, because that would be inappropriate; but he can't really help it when he's in the situation where the thought of sex just turns him on, let alone the fact that he's hearing it first-hand. 

He sighs and rolls onto his side once again, begging his brain to relieve the pressure from his crotch. 

Another faint rustle of blankets alerts Zayn that he mightn't be the only one awake in the room right now. The rustling has been going on for a while now, and a lot of shifting has been going on in the armchair. Point taken though; attempting to get a decent rest in one of them is hard. 

'Liam?' Zayn whispers into the gloomy room. His only reply is a quiet cough, and Zayn thinks he mightn't have heard him. The two of them have kind of have an on-going “thing” between them, where they aren’t 100% sure if they are actually _together_ or just friends with benefits. Zayn kind of wants it to be the first one, but he doesn’t want to push Liam into anything – seeing as for now, he’s straight. They just let the other three assume they’re together though; it makes everything easier without having to go into detail. It hasn’t been that long though, so Zayn doesn’t think they really know what they _actually_ get up to.

'Li? You awake?' He asks, louder but still keeping his voice quiet. 

A quiet groan unexpectedly flutters into the air, followed by a sincere cough. Zayn sits up slowly, looking over to the arm chair. The moonlight pooling in through the window that has curtains forgotten to be drawn, gives him just enough light to make out the fact that Liam’s sitting up in the armchair, a faint movement coming from under the blanket. It's at this point where Zayn figures that Liam has no idea _he's_ awake, and doesn’t exactly want to be heard in the first place. 

Zayn can make out Liam's eyes squeezing shut and his teeth catching on his bottom lip as another moan from the bedroom plunges through the silence. Is he..? Oh, god. Now he's really hard. 

Almost hesitantly, Zayn flops onto his back and pulls his blanket up to his chin, despite the fact that it isn't exactly cold. Tuning his ears into the heavy breathing coming from the arm chair and the slightly muffled moans still pouring out of the bedroom, he slowly starts palming himself through his sweatpants. He breathes a sigh of relief at the contact, and his heart starts racing when he faces that he's actually doing this - with Liam doing the same in the armchair, and Harry and Louis fucking in the bedroom. 

'Z-Zayn?' A rough, shaky voice jolts Zayn out of his thoughts. 

'Liam?' Zayn calls back quietly, his face flushing at the hoarseness in his voice. 

'Are you...' Liam starts awkwardly, his sentence drifting off into a silence. 

Zayn takes a deep breath before groaning unintentionally as his hand slides into his boxers. 'Yeah,' Zayn answers, nearly laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation before them. 

'Jesus Christ,' Liam chokes out, and Zayn sits up, shuffling around. 

'Come over here,' Zayn offers, and he's never seen Liam move faster. 

 

 

Louis abandons the kiss and inconspicuously rolls over, so that he's atop Harry, and moderately in control. He begins sprinkling gentle kisses down Harry's jawline and his neck, stopping at his collarbone to nip at the flushed skin. Harry tilts his head back in pleasure and bites back a moan as Louis works himself down lower; tracing his tongue along the indents of Harry’s abs and teasing at the band of his boxers. Harry wriggles impatiently and whines, knitting a hand into Louis' hair, tugging slightly.

' _Lou_ ,' he complains, and Louis looks up to meet Harry's dark and lust-filled eyes. He grins, before pressing a kiss just below Harry's belly button and slowly, _purposely_ , ascending his hands along the inside of Harry's thighs. Louis reaches up and starts palming him through his boxers, Harry gasping in response, a hot shiver tingling down his spine. Harry abruptly untangles his hands from Louis' hair and attempts to push down Louis’ boxers, who only shakes his head and grabs Harry’s wrists in one hand, stopping him.

‘Not yet,’ Louis says, unblinking as he releases Harry’s wrists and resumes his previous position.

‘ _Please_ , Louis,’ Harry begs, shifting his hips, the bulge in his boxers almost aching with the need to be touched.

Louis catches Harry’s eyes and can see how he’s so close to tears; absolutely pleading for Louis to do something, _anything_. So, being the good guy he is, Louis sighs and obliges, crawling down further between Harry’s legs.

‘You’re such a slut, you know that?’ Louis whispers, taking the elastic of Harry’s boxers between his teeth and pulling them down, discarding them across the room.

Harry draws in a sharp breath as his erection springs up to his stomach, his toes curling when Louis ghosts his breath over it.

‘Fucking whore, gonna make you beg for it,’ Louis hisses, wrapping his hand around Harry’s cock tightly and tugging once, twice, before releasing it.

Harry whimpers in protest at the loss of contact and pushes himself up onto his elbows, his eyes swimming with hope and desire.

‘Louis, for God’s sake, _please_ ,’ Harry wails after Louis stays silent, before furrowing his eyebrows and collapsing onto his back in exasperation.

Louis can feel guilt clench his stomach at the look on Harry’s face, so willingly takes Harry’s cock once again into his hand, stroking it gently before dipping his head and licking along the base. He presses kisses up the side and swirls his tongue over the tip until Harry is a fidgeting and moaning wreck above him. Louis runs soothing hands up and down Harry’s hips as he lowers his head further, sucking. Harry bucks his hips up automatically as a jolt of pleasure shoots through his abdomen, but much to his dismay, Louis digs his fingers into Harry's hips; pressing him down into the mattress. Louis hollows his cheeks while gradually taking Harry all the way down, earning an array of jumbled praises from above him. He bobs his head, taking Harry the deepest he can, even though he feels tears begin to prickle at his eyes.

'Louis, wait - _stop_ ,' Harry chokes out, his thighs tensing up when Louis ignores him, driving Harry closer to the edge. Louis does pull back though, quickly after, and Harry begins to let out the breath he was holding - but it ends up a jagged shriek as Louis presses his thumb into the head of Harry's cock. 

' _Fuck_ ,' Harry curses, his come shooting onto Louis' face, who’s making sure to open his mouth and catch the last of it on his tongue. Harry's legs are trembling and he grasps the sheet below him, squeezing so hard his knuckles turn white. Louis milks the last out of him before he clambers up Harry's chest while he's still shaking, mounting his hips. Harry could _swear_ he almost lets out a cry at how gorgeous Louis looks. His hair is ruffled, swept messily across his forehead; a bead of sweat sliding down the side of Louis’ face. His eyes are burning, with what Harry thinks might be passion, and he’s got some of Harry’s come caught up in his eyelashes with a few drops on his cheek.

Louis brings a couple of fingers up to his face and swipes at the mess, lathering his fingers before he swoops them into his mouth and sucks them clean. Harry opens his mouth in silent awe, watching with wide, gaping eyes. Louis removes his fingers and swallows, leaning in with a deep kiss to Harry's mouth. The kiss is wet and sloppy, Harry licking through Louis’ mouth to salvage the taste of himself.

Repeating his earlier attempt, Harry reaches up to hook a finger under Louis’ boxers and pulls them down, this time with no objection from the latter. Louis squeezes his eyes shut and grits his teeth when Harry takes his length into his hand. After going so long without being touched and engaging in pleasuring Harry, Louis almost comes right then and there. Using all of his willpower, he shies away from Harry’s touch and is awarded with a confused look from Harry.

‘Did I do something wrong?’ Harry asks worriedly, his face dropping, and Louis almost laughs because _no_ \- in fact he did exactly the opposite. All Louis can do is shake his head and swallow away the lump building in his throat.

‘ _No_ , definitely _not_ – I just – come here,’ Louis flusters, giving up and reuniting his lips with Harry’s in a bruising manner. Harry is taken aback by the impact and keens in his throat, gasping for breath and hard again when Louis eventually pulls away and scatters hot, open-mouthed kisses down his neck. Harry moans and writhes around, more than ready for when Louis leans down and digs around in his suitcase. Louis pops back up with a bottle of lube and condom in his hand, but Harry’s become distracted and is focusing on otherwise, straining forward.

‘What're you –,’ Louis starts, but Harry clamps a hand over his mouth, cutting him short.

A quiet moan can be heard faintly, and Harry's eyes sparkle at the sound. A surprised grin breaks out on his face, and he turns to Louis. Confusion is striking the latter's features, obviously having not heard what Harry had. 

‘ _Listen_ ,’ Harry hisses, reaching for Louis' hand and squeezing it. Louis stays absolutely still, his attention concentrated on whatever he’s meant to be hearing. 

‘Oh my _god_ ,' Louis suddenly whispers, and Harry snorts softly, knowing he heard it. ‘Wait, who do you think it is then? I mean, it -,’

‘Liam and Niall, definitely,’ Harry butts in, smirking confidently at Louis. 

Louis shakes his head, scoffing. ‘Zayn and Liam more like – Niall went out, remember?’ he argues. 

‘Well, I suppose we should go clarify that. “Going out” could’ve just been an excuse. Niall could be on the couch right now, doing unimaginable things with Liam – and we can’t even be sure,’ Harry insists, sitting up properly and dragging Louis off the bed with a thud. 

‘Wait, are you serious?' Louis asks, slightly shocked, questioning his boyfriend's sanity, even. Here they are, the two of them, horny as ever, fully naked and half hard, sneaking out to see which two of their friends are going at it. Only seconds ago, _they_ were going at it.

'We’ll come straight back afterwards, and I promise I’ll make you feel good. Please?' Harry proposes, pouting. 

Louis can never say no to the offer of Harry making him feel good. You’d have to be crazy to do that. So, he stands up straighter and shoves Harry into the wall beside the doorway.

'I'm holding you to that promise, Styles,' he growls, pressing a firm and (what he hopes is) threatening kiss to his lips. Wondering if he's going to regret this or not, Louis pulls away and saunters out of the room, Harry hot on his heels. 

 

Louis stops in his tracks as he rounds the corner, so abruptly that Harry slams into his back. Harry winces in pain and bites his lip so he doesn't make a noise and alert whoever is out there. 

'Harry, look,' Louis whispers, taking a step back. Harry gapes at the sight before him, turning to look at Louis. 

'What the _hell_ ,' Harry says out loud, and then realises what he's done. Louis' eyes widen and Harry claps his hands over his mouth, cursing at himself in his mind. 

Suddenly all the sounds of movement, the breathy moans, and quiet hisses of appreciation stop dead, and Harry's heart momentarily falters. 

'Back in - _now_ ,' Louis hisses, grabbing at Harry's arm and attempting to pull him back into the bedroom. They stumble in, crashing into each other in the doorway, and Louis has to hold back a snigger.

‘Louis, it’s not funny!’ Harry whispers in a high-pitched tone, elbowing him in the ribs when Louis begins to splutter with laughter. ‘ _Louis_!’ Harry warns, paranoid they’re going to be caught, and he’ll get the blame. Louis only shakes in silent laughter, so much so that he resorts to the bed and buries his face into a pillow to stop any noise escaping.

Harry rolls his eyes and peers around the corner, wanting to see if the boys had realised anything. If they had, it obviously hadn’t deterred them for long; as they were back to how they were when Harry first saw them.

‘ _Jesus_ ,’ a voice speaks from behind him, and Harry nearly jumps out of his skin.

‘Don’t _do_ that,’ Harry almost shrieks, sinking his head into Louis’s shoulder, trying to calm himself.

‘They really get into it, don’t they?’ Louis chuckles, kissing the top of Harry’s head softly.

Harry looks up and ducks his head out of the doorway to peek again, but pulls back just as quickly, shaking his head.

‘You’ve got to be _kidding_! It seems so _weird_ , I mean, Zayn and _Liam_. Liam, the one who’d banned us from doing anything love-related in front of him, who’d so much as _flinch_ if we’d give each other a wink from across the room; is _willingly_ saliva-swapping and basically dry-humping with _Zayn_ ,’ Harry says in disbelief, throwing his hands up. ‘I don’t even know anymore.’

There’s silence for a few moments before Louis speak again. ‘You’ve got to admit, it’s kind of hot, though,’ he says audibly, so quietly that Harry has to crane forward and make sure he heard him right.

Well, yeah, actually, _yeah_ , Harry thinks to himself, swapping perspective and looking at the situation through a different view. Think horny teenager with his ridiculously hot, _naked_ boyfriend beside him, rather than genuinely concerned and more than a little freaked out friend and bandmate.

Harry spins to face Louis, a sly smirk plastered on his lips.

‘Wanna see if we can get away with it?’ He asks, a rapid twinkle appearing in his eyes.

Louis furrows his brows in confusion. ‘Get away with _what_ exactly?’

Harry clutches Louis’ wrist and pulls him forward and out of the doorway. He backs himself up against the outer wall of the bedroom, sliding to the floor and tugging Louis with him, who whimpers as he lands uncomfortably on the floor.

From where they’re sitting, Louis can see that Harry planned the ability to have the exact view of Liam and Zayn from around the corner – but they’re hidden away enough in the shadows that they won’t be seen.

‘Hey, come here,’ Harry whispers, a glint in his eye that Louis’s not sure if he should be worried about. Harry pulls Louis in for an erotic and amorous kiss; the beginning of the chaotic night ahead.


	2. we'll be fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so, it's no secret what happened the night before, for either of the couples. zayn gets snarky, louis gets defensive, and then there's a lot of tension. more sexual, than anything.

**9:00 the next morning:**

 

Zayn stirs in his sleep, rolling onto his side and snuggling into the blanket nestled up against his chin. He’s in the midst of drifting off to sleep again when he feels something hit his face, and he jolts awake, nearly falling off the couch in shock. Rubbing his eyes and shaking his head to get rid of any remaining chance of sleep, Zayn flops onto his back and opens his eyes. Looming right above his head and peering down on him, is Harry.

‘ _Fuck_!’ Zayn swears, kicking at the blanket gathered on top of him and hitting something solid at the same time. Harry lets out a strangled gasp, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and dropping to his knees, landing on the floor with a loud thump – awakening Liam with the sound. Zayn sits up abruptly, smacking a hand over his mouth when he sees Harry curled up in a ball.

‘What the _fuck_ is going on?’ Liam grumbles sleepily, stretching his arms above his head.

‘Oh my god, Harry, I’m sorry man,’ Zayn apologises, clambering off the couch to Harry’s aid.

‘Kind of had it coming,’ Harry wheezes, hands clamped over the crotch of his boxers and face screwed up in what Zayn can only assume to be pain.

‘ _Zayn_!’ Liam shrieks when he realises what’s happened.

‘What, he scared me!’ Zayn defends, patting Harry on the shoulder gingerly in an act of comfort.

Liam snorts and crawls off the bed too, wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulders as he makes an effort to stand up.

‘Are you alright now?’ Liam asks, feeling some of Harry’s weight resist from him.

‘Will be in a minute,’ Harry replies, his voice still an octave or two higher than it really should be. He sucks in a deep breath and stands up straight, turning to face Zayn.

‘Fucking prick,’ he accuses, punching him on the arm half-heartedly.

‘Hey now, I’ve said I’m sorry,’ Zayn pouts, wrapping his arms snug around the younger boy and squeezing him tightly. Harry squirms and furrows his eyebrows in protest.

‘Fuck off,’ Harry mumbles, shrugging out of his grip when he eventually lets go and flashing Zayn a quick smile to prove he’s only kidding.

‘You should probably get some ice on that,’ Liam assesses, striding into the small kitchen.

‘Get some ice on what?’ Louis asks as he appears in the hallway.

‘Good morning you,’ Liam calls over his shoulder as he rifles around in the fridge. ‘To save a lot of unnecessary details, Zayn kicked Harry in the balls.’

‘I’ve already said sorry twice,’ Zayn grumbles, jumping up to sit on the bench.

‘Duly noted,’ Harry shoots back.

Louis’ eyebrows shoot up as he seats himself on a bar stool. ‘I don’t even want to know what happened,’ he says, patting his lap in a gesture for Harry to swing his legs up. Harry scoffs and obeys Louis, nodding in thanks as Liam tosses him an icepack from the freezer box in the fridge. He winces as he presses the icepack into the still aching area and bites into his tongue to deflect any pathetic noises.

‘Riiight,’ Zayn drawls, and leans down to peck Liam’s lips softly. ‘Have some fun last night, then?’ He asks knowingly, stumping Louis and Harry with the abrupt subject change.

Harry feels like all the wind’s been knocked out of him; like he can’t breathe. His words get caught in his throat and he just wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

What if they know? What if they’ve known the whole time? It was all just a bit of fun, but they’d _kill_ him if they found out, he was sure of it.

‘I, um, we –,’ Harry chokes out, feeling his face turn a startling shade of red. Louis sees him getting flustered and cuts in, turning Zayn’s ruthless attention to him instead.

‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’ Louis shoots back, narrowing his eyes.

‘Well, actually, _yeah_ , I _would_ like to know, Louis, seeing as at around 3 am this very morning, there was an _awful_ lot of noise coming from your room for two people who were _meant_ to be _sleeping_ ,’ Zayn persists, ‘- which, by the way, was very inconvenient when some of us _were_ actually trying to sleep.’

Liam swallows thickly and reaches a protective hand out to place on Zayn’s shoulder. ‘Just leave it, yeah?’ He reasons, flicking his eyes between Louis and Harry who both look like they could _die_ right then and there; and Zayn, who’s waiting expectantly with a smug grin on his face.

It’s never exactly convenient when they get into fights; especially when it involves either Zayn or Louis who both have a wicked mouth on them and a sharp edge to their voices. Harry always makes it his best effort to _not_ get involved. He’s like Liam and prefers to stay on the side-lines, while they watch helplessly as their boyfriends have their snap at each other. Liam feels like it’s his duty to prevent these sorts of things happening, and if they do, get in the middle and stop it before it develops into a full on fist fight. _Niall_ on the other hand, (when he is actually around and not out with his mates downing another pint of beer – no disrespect intended), can’t stand it when fights break out between them. The majority of the time he’ll storm out of the room and not return for a good few hours; or end up getting involved himself, which just happens to make the situation a whole lot worse.

All in all, the boys actually have a really good relationship with each other, arguing aside. Some say that they have an unusually open and such a _close_ relationship, just by seeing the way they act around each other. The boys don’t refer to themselves as fellow band members or even friends anymore. Those simple words can’t even begin to describe what they have between them, don’t seem like they ever could. So, they’ve settled for brothers; brothers in a family of laughs, mischief, and pure love. When Harry actually sits back and thinks about that though, he realises it’s kind of a weird name, seeing as he and Louis are together – ditto Liam and Zayn (that still sounds weird to say); which basically means that if they called themselves brothers, it’s incest. But, okay, they aren’t literal blood brothers, so they stuck with it anyway.

Back in reality of the ensuing fight, Louis has finally managed to get his head past the words Zayn just fired out, and has his own comeback ready to use. He doesn’t really want it to come to this, and he knows Harry’s going to _hate_ him, but he isn’t one to lose a fight.

Louis tilts his chin upwards with a newfound confidence, his eyes bright under his swept fringe.

‘Not like you’re one to talk, after all, I heard you and Liam got up to some of your _own_ fun last night, hm?’

To his left, Harry’s pupils blow wide and he gapes at Louis. Zayn looks _offended_ by the remark, and Louis can’t help but be proud with that.

‘ _Louis_ ,’ Liam warns in disbelief, squeezing Zayn’s shoulder and burning a what-he-hopes is an intimidating glare at Louis. (He really only looks like a disgruntled puppy in Louis’ opinion, but it’s the thought that counts). Zayn only shrugs Liam’s hand off and slides off the bench, slamming his hands on the countertop as he turns to lock eye contact with Louis.

Harry can almost _see_ how badly this is going to turn out.

‘Oh? And how would you know _that_?’ Zayn snarls, enjoying this _way_ too much.

Louis can feel anger bubbling up in the pit of his stomach, and he has to curl his hands into fists in his lap to refrain from physically lashing out. He’s clenching his hands so furiously that he can feel his sharp nails (which Niall has always sniggered at and deemed “too feminine”) digging into his palm and carving half-moons into the skin.

‘It’s not like you were exactly _quiet_ about it, were you?’ Louis snaps back. Harry shifts his feet on Louis’ thighs uncomfortably; who jumps at the touch, and Harry swears he feels a shock zap through his toes. Harry doesn’t know why the original question has even rigged Louis up so much. Zayn’s always like this: joking around and teasing the others. He’s only taking the piss though, and Harry knows that, _all_ of them do.

‘Hey, that’s enough,’ Liam says firmly from behind Zayn where he grasps at Zayn’s arms, wrenching him backwards and into his chest. Liam stumbles back at the impact from Zayn being so tense, and would’ve crashed into the fridge if he hadn’t managed to steady himself.

‘Look, you just need to take a step back and calm down, okay? We’ll go out into the lobby if you want,’ Liam offers, refusing to release his grip on Zayn’s arms out of the simple fear that if he lets go, Zayn will throw a punch.

‘I don’t need to go out to any fucking lobby,’ Zayn argues, tearing his arms free of Liam’s hold and shoving him in the chest, storming out of the room. Liam can hear a door slam down the hallway as he brushes himself off. It’s best to leave Zayn when he gets like this. Follow him in there, and you’ll immediately regret it. He’ll calm down eventually and retreat out from his wallowing depths of anger; often humiliated with his previous actions. He claims he loses control when his anger takes over and seems to wind himself up in the moment. Fair enough, Liam thinks.

Louis in his own frustration has taken it in his stride to do what Zayn was offered (and declined) and evacuate down to the lobby. Harry looks up as soon as he hears the second slamming of a door, and meets eyes with Liam. They both let out sighs of unison.

‘Guess I should go and talk to him,’ Harry says, feeling defeated.

‘Suppose so. I’ll, ah, clean up here,’ Liam responds quietly, holding a hand out for the icepack that Harry forgot he even had.

Harry stands up and hands the pack over, nodding in gratitude. ‘And thanks, for putting a stop to that. Who knows what might’ve happened.’

Liam only gives a small smile and turns to replace the icepack. Harry feels like he should probably apologise or something on behalf of Louis, but he can’t find the words and just gives a tired shrug before ambling down to the hallway. Zayn has locked himself in the bathroom; Harry can hear his vigorous muttering as he approaches the bedroom. He delves into his suitcase and pulls out two t-shirts: one for Louis, and one for himself, before heading out of the hotel room without a backwards glance.

 

 

Louis crosses his arms over his chest and huffs, wishing he’d put on a jumper or something before he slammed out of the hotel room. He walks over the plush carpet to the end of the corridor and starts heading down the stairs. He doesn’t know exactly where he’s going, but he just wants to get out and clear his head. They’re staying on the fifth floor of their hotel in central London, which gives Louis a good few flights of stairs to concentrate on.

As soon as he gets down to the lobby, he ducks around the back hallway rather than going out front, seeing as there’s more than likely going to be some fans camped out by the front entrance. Slumping down against the wall leading out to the bar (which unfortunately, is _closed_ at this time of morning); Louis drops to the floor and puts his head in his hands. It’s a stupid thing that they’re fighting about. Why are they even fighting anyway? Louis just gets defensive, he supposes. Gets defensive that his boyfriend was looking uncomfortable and like he wanted to just shrivel up and _die_ , and Louis can’t handle that look of utter panic that glasses over his eyes.

He’s been sitting there for only about ten minutes before Louis hears a familiar voice call for him from the main lobby.

‘Lou?’ Harry calls hesitantly, keeping his voice down but still loud enough that Louis is able to pick it up. He’d be able to hear his voice from the other side of the _world_ , probably.

‘Back here, Harry,’ Louis answers, threading his fingers into his hair in frustration.

Harry follows the voice around to where he finds Louis curled up on the floor, small fists bunched up in his hair and looking as vulnerable as ever.

‘Hey, what’s the matter?’ Harry questions, sinking to the floor beside Louis and handing him one of the t-shirts he’s brought with him.

Louis looks up, his hair all ruffled, and sniffs. ‘I don’t know.’

They both shrug the thin layers of material over their heads and shoulders and Harry outstretches an arm, wrapping it over Louis’ shoulders and pulling him in tight. Louis snuggles in closer, burrowing into Harry’s chest and folding his legs up beside him.

‘Felt as though I had to stick up for us. And then Zayn started getting all snarky and I guess I just got pissed off and made it into something a lot worse,’ Louis explains quietly, playing with the seams along the neckline of Harry’s shirt.

‘It’s not your fault, yeah? It’s over now and we just have to go back and hope that Zayn’s willing to get over it. I’m sure he will be though. That sentimental bastard can’t stand being angry with one of us for more than a day,’ Harry says, in complete honesty.

Louis giggles into Harry’s chest and sighs. ‘True, though. I should go apologise, shouldn’t I?’

Louis can feel Harry nod slowly above him, and no further words are needed. Louis sits back and Harry stands up, shaking himself off before outstretching a hand to Louis. He takes it, lacing their fingers together as Harry raises him off the ground. Wobbling a bit as he gets his footing, Louis sets off back towards the hotel room. They keep their hands locked together the whole way back, Louis speeding off so fast that Harry has to pull him back in the shadows and press a purposeful kiss to his lips, reminding him to calm down.

 

 

Liam takes a deep breath and knocks gently on the bathroom door. All he gets in response is silence.

‘Zayn, I know you’re in there.’

No reply.

‘Louis and Harry are downstairs, it’s only me. Let me in, please?’

Utter silence; and then the click of a lock. Liam expects the door to open, but when it doesn’t after a few minutes, he puts a hand on the door handle and pushes on it gently, easing it ajar.

‘Zayn?’ Liam asks, opening the door wider and peering around the room anxiously. It’s empty. How’s that even possible?

Then Liam sees him.

Zayn is sitting on the floor of the shower, knees to his chest. The water isn’t on, and he’s still in his boxers.

‘Z, what are you _doing_?’ Liam askes, with a slight snort. Zayn sighs and stretches his legs out.

‘I don’t fucking know,’ he mumbles, his body going lax as he slouches further against the shower wall. Liam doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

‘Come here, you sap,’ Liam says sympathetically, beckoning for Zayn to come and give him a hug.

When Liam manages to persuade him to get up, the hug comes with such force that Liam is caught off-guard, stumbling backwards. Zayn has wrapped his arms securely around Liam’s waist, anchoring their bodies to one another, and has his face in Liam’s shoulder. Liam feels his heart palpitate in love for the raven-haired boy, and he can’t help but bring a hand up to Zayn’s head, running his fingers through the soft hair and closing his eyes in bliss.

‘I love you, Li,’ Zayn sniffles audibly.

Liam laughs. ‘I love you, too. But just think – all of this over a fight about _sex_ ,’ he deliberates, laughing more when Zayn pulls away and sticks his tongue out.

‘Speaking of…’ Zayn shoots back coyly, trailing off as he drops his eyes down to Liam’s lips. Liam stops in his tracks, catching Zayn’s burnt sienna glance upwards. His eyes have glazed over, changing from hopelessness, to love, to passion in a matter of minutes. Zayn takes a step forward, closing any remaining space left between them; pressing their chests flush together. He brings a delicate hand up to trace along the edge of Liam’s jawline, running his thumb along Liam’s bottom lip and smirking.

‘So beautiful,’ Zayn whispers. He drops his hands, only to sweep them down the sides of Liam’s torso before placing two hands firmly on his ass and pulling his hips towards his sharply. The connection makes Liam whimper and bite into his lip, blinking steadily at Zayn. Liam rakes his eyes along Zayn’s slightly pouted lips: wet and eager; his deeply chiselled cheekbones; toned jaw; and up to his dark and wide eyes. And then it’s all happening too quickly. Zayn can’t take it anymore, and latches onto Liam’s mouth fiercely, slamming him backwards against the door which crashes shut loudly. Zayn jams his leg in between Liam’s, levelling himself by bracing a hand either side of Liam’s head against the door. Within seconds Liam is rutting up against Zayn’s leg, needing the friction as Zayn kisses, licks, bites and sucks his way down Liam’s neck and to his collarbone. When he gets to the bridge of Liam’s collarbone where it dips into his shoulder, Zayn stops and suddenly bites down, _hard_ , shoving a hand into Liam’s boxers simultaneously.

‘ _Zayn_ ,’ Liam whines. His other words catch in his throat and escape as only a choked groan. Breathing quietly, Zayn runs a soothing hand up and down Liam’s arm.

‘You’re alright,’ Zayn reassures, pressing his forehead against Liam’s. Liam’s worked himself up too much and is on the verge of tears, quivering in Zayn’s grip and breathing unevenly.

‘You’re fine, okay. Just breathe, yeah? Doing so good, babe,’ Zayn praises breathily, jerking Liam off slowly. Liam breathes in deeply, shakily, and nods.

‘Yeah, ‘m good,’ he whispers, fighting the urge to moan by holding his breath.

‘Don’t do that! You’ll pass out,’ Zayn frets, removing his hand as if it’s going to help. Liam just groans disappointedly.

‘Please don’t,’ Zayn begs, his face falling.

‘No, I didn’t mean it like that, I was -,’ Liam stops and sighs. ‘Just come ‘ere.’ The words get all slurred together in Liam’s state and mould into one syllable, but it’s okay, because Zayn can differentiate those words anywhere. Reconnecting the two of them together lustfully, he strips Liam of his boxers and does the same to himself, throwing them vaguely somewhere in the distance.

‘The bathroom – isn’t doing much – for me,’ Zayn mumbles between the exchanging of kisses. ‘Bedroom?’

‘Won’t – Louis – and – Harry -,’ Liam begins before Zayn cuts him off, pulling back.

‘They’re downstairs, remember?’

Liam pauses. ‘Well in that case, what’re we waiting for?’ he asks, raising an eyebrow suggestively and trying to sound like he has the slightest idea of what he’s doing.

Zayn tilts his head to the side, grinning. ‘You’re cute when you have no idea what you’re doing,’ he smirks.

Liam scoffs, and Zayn can see that the casual conversation is helping him to relax.

‘Who says I _don’t_?’

‘Oh, _please_. You were the one who was flipping his shit before when I was only kissing you,’ Zayn teases, folding his arms over his chest.

Liam sighs, mock defeated. ‘Not my fault that some quiff-haired, self-pretentious bastard became too irresistible for me to handle and I had to do something about it. ‘You should be grateful, y’know. I sacrificed my heterosexuality for you,’ he begins, ‘and as for not knowing how to do anything, I’m sure there’s plenty of time to learn,’ Liam finishes.

Zayn shakes his head, laughing outright. ‘Get out there you little twat,’ he laughs, pushing Liam into the door. Liam chuckles and feels Zayn come up behind him.

‘I’d be more than happy to volunteer, by the way,’ he murmurs quietly, kissing at Liam’s neck. Liam shudders and wrenches open the door, wanting to get to the bedroom sooner rather than later. He takes a step out, and walks right into Louis. Liam kind of freezes for a second, his blood running cold in frozen panic. Harry’s standing right behind Louis and looks as though he’s just seen a ghost: the entire colour draining from his face. It takes Liam about a minute to register that he doesn’t actually _care_ that Harry and Louis are right there. After all, who said it was up to them to take control of Liam’s actions? So, all at once, Liam becomes too aware of the warm hand that’s scratching his arm lightly and comfortingly and the hard and hot erection pressing into the crease of his ass, and pushes past Louis. He reaches behind him to grab at Zayn’s hand to make sure he’s following before continuing his beeline for the bedroom.

Louis stands, gobsmacked as a rush of air proceeds past him in the blur of two _naked_ bodies and grasping hands. He turns to shoot a confused look at Harry before stalking off down the hallway and following Liam and Zayn into the bedroom. Harry grabs his wrist though, and pulls him back.

‘Why don’t we just let them go? There’s no harm done,’ Harry remarks, his face still too pale.

‘I’m not just letting this go,’ Louis answers simply, loosening his wrist from Harry’s grip and crashing into the bedroom in a flurry of “what the hell do you think you’re _doing_ ” and “mind telling me what the hell’s going on?”

He doesn’t get to say much more because a pair of unfamiliar and bruised lips smash down against his without warning. Louis actually holds there for a bit, puzzled with the idea his brain is giving him that it’s actually kind of… nice. But then Louis panics and pulls back, shocked more than anything. Zayn’s face greets his, but all Louis can do is blink.

‘What the _fuck_ was that for?’ He asks in disbelief, his voice a lot less confident than he means for it to be.

Suddenly a hand is on his shoulder, turning him around to meet his curly-haired and flustered looking boyfriend. ‘It’s all right, babe, let it go. That was actually really, _really_ hot,’ Harry says quietly, his voice sounding too raspy and eyes much too shiny to be coming from someone that’s kidding.

Well.

Louis licks his lips that’ve turned a fiery shade of red and shakes out his hair with his hand, considering.

He locks eyes with Harry, giving him an “are you sure?” stare. Harry nods, slowly but surely, and Louis’ pulse races. He wastes no time and spins on his heel, turning to Zayn with a glint in his eye. Zayn grins, biting into his bottom lip as Louis approaches him. Zayn gets impatient and can’t handle the tension anymore, stepping forward to meet Louis halfway and kissing him with unmistakable hunger. This time Louis doesn’t pull away, but instead turned the kiss into something a lot more daring, everything becoming a mess of tongues and saliva and lips and just _heat_.

The heat’s everywhere: in Zayn’s dishevelled hair when he runs his fingers through it, tugging softly; on Zayn’s skin when he pushes him bodily back onto the bed; and on Harry’s skin when he pulls him back for a second, telling him to slow down. Louis’s kind of in a daze as Harry tells him to raise his arms so he can take his shirt off and to lie back on the bed so he can get his boxers off. He only really snaps back into a twisted reality when he feels Harry lower his mouth onto Louis’ hard and flushed cock. Everything suddenly sharpens and Louis can actually see properly, and it takes him a moment to survey his surroundings. It comes to his attention that Harry must’ve undressed before while he was with Zayn, as their clothes are tangled together in a pile of cotton. Liam’s a sweaty and writhing mess in the corner of the room, his hips involuntarily bucking up into Zayn’s hand as he gets him off at such a fast pace that Louis actually winces for a split second. It’s then that the pleasure of what Harry is doing hits him, and it crashes over him in such a tidal wave that Louis can’t breathe for a second. Harry’s dragged Louis over to the edge of the bed so that he’s sitting on it, feet on the ground, and has strategically kneeled himself between Louis’s thighs. He’s looking up at Louis through his eyelashes, sucking around the head of his cock and pumping at the base with his hand. Louis moans loudly, his eyes fluttering shut and hands finding their way into Harry’s curls. The fully recognisable signs that Louis is close start appearing within minutes. Harry feels Louis’ hands tighten in his hair and his legs start shaking, his stomach tensing and a sharp gasp escaping his mouth.

‘Harry, I’m gonna -,’ Louis starts, but then Harry squeezes the base of his shaft and that’s the end of him. He comes down Harry’s throat, his climax a jumble of breathy “ _Harry_ ” and quiet moans. Harry pulls off with a satisfying pop and sits back, before Louis hauls Harry up onto the bed beside him and pushed him onto his back, kissing him roughly. He breaks away too quickly and leaves Harry suspended, whining in disappointment. The more worked up Louis gets him, the better.

Louis ducks his head down between Harry’s legs, spreading them out and pushing them up towards Harry’s chest.

‘Hold onto them for me, yeah?’ Louis asks, but it’s more of a command, and Harry knows better than to disobey Louis. He opens his mouth to ask what Louis’s doing, but his words disappear and all that came out is a surprised “oh!” as something warm and wet prodded around his hole. Louis hardly _ever_ rims Harry, and even if he does, it normally needs a lot of begging in Harry’s favour. Bottom lip caught between his teeth, Harry moans and hisses quietly in appreciation and pleasure. Louis flattens his tongue and licks a thick stripe up his entrance before removing a hand from Harry’s hips, looking up and nodding at Harry. He holds two fingers up to Harry who readily takes them into his mouth, sucking gently. Extracting his slick fingers and settling himself comfortably below Harry, Louis gently pushes the tip of his finger inside of him and presses a kiss to the inside of Harry’s left thigh, nipping at the skin.

Harry feels the bed dip a little beside him, and he turns his head, only to see that Liam and Zayn have clambered onto the covers. He’s almost forgotten they’re even in the room, and his heart jumps a little at their faces, alight and eager as they watch Louis carefully. The two of them are both still hard and ready; looking a little more relieved but still up for anything. Liam’s hazel eyes are glassed over in a blissed-out way, and he can’t seem to manage to let go of Zayn’s hand. Their hair is tousled, lips wet; and if Harry could say so himself, they look positively like sex.

‘Our Liam here’s got a right good mouth on him,’ Zayn announces proudly, squeezing Liam’s hand. Liam only blushes and ducks his head. He hasn’t actually said anything the whole time they’ve been in here, unless moaning counts.

Harry only snorts, but his expression changes precipitously when Louis adds a second finger, twisting and scissoring.

‘ _Fuck_ , Lou,’ Harry curses, his head falling back onto the pillows.

Louis smiles softly. ‘You’re doing so good, darling. Almost done,’ he praises affectionately, and Harry whimpers at the nickname, his legs slipping forward a little. Louis notices and adds his third finger quickly, thrusting in once, twice, three times, before pulling out. Harry lets out a reserved moan and frowns at the emptiness.

‘Do you mind helping him out?’ Louis asks Liam and Zayn, gesturing towards Harry’s legs. Zayn nods without hesitation and places his hand on Harry’s right leg, his and Liam’s interlocked fingers separating. Harry sighs in relief, smiling giddily.

‘Thank you, that helps a lot,’ Harry says gratefully.  

‘Li?’ Louis questions suddenly, and Liam almost jumps at his tone, looking a bit disorientated.

‘Yeah, sorry,’ he apologises; crawling off the bed and around to the other side to take place at Harry’s left leg.

‘No need to be sorry,’ Harry murmurs reassuringly, beaming up at Liam. Liam blinks a couple of times, as if contemplating something; and then leans down to press a soft and tender kiss to Harry’s abandoned lips. When he pulls back, Liam’s smiling, and Harry can’t comprehend how innocent and liable he looks in that moment, and it kind of makes his heart skip a beat.

Harry holds one of his now free hands out to Liam; who takes it instantly, their hands clasping together warmly. 

‘Now that that’s settled,’ Louis interrupts, drawing attention back to the task at hand. He brings a hand up to his mouth and spits, before running a hand loosely up and down his length to slick himself up. Harry begins tensing up in expectancy, and when Louis looks down to position himself and Harry feels the head of his cock nudging into him; he thinks his heart might burst out of his chest. Liam subconsciously grips Harry’s hand tighter and skims a soothing thumb over the top of Harry’s knuckles, flinching when he sees Louis bottom out.

A low moan is all that can be heard in the otherwise silent room as Louis draws back slowly, pulling his hips almost all the way back. He slams back in roughly; causing Harry to keen loudly and squeeze his eyes shut steadfastly; Zayn almost completely losing his grip on Harry’s leg from the blow.

‘So tight for me, Harry,’ Louis growls lowly, his tone gravelly already. Harry whimpers as he braces himself when Louis draws back again, before pounding right back into him.

Louis keeps that up for a bit – pulling out slowly and ramming himself back in until Harry’s grabbing onto Liam’s hand so tightly he could swear it’s going to break; and has eyes brimming over with tears, a mixture of various begs for more and deep groans eliciting his swollen lips.

‘I need more Lou,’ Harry begs shakily, swallowing roughly. Beside him, Zayn takes a jagged intake of breath, digging his fingernails into Harry’s leg. Louis continues thrusting in and out, but he slows his pace gradually until he stops still inside of Harry.

‘Louis, ju-,’ Harry begins, but is stopped mid-sentence by Louis dragging his thumb along the length of Harry’s throbbing cock, and grinning slyly.

‘Want more, yeah?’ He asks; but it’s one of those times Harry knows he doesn’t have the option to not answer.

‘Y-Yeah,’ Harry answers, stammering.

‘And what do we say?’ Louis adds, wrapping a hand around Harry and stroking delicately.

‘ _Please_ ,’ Harry whines in response, bucking his hips up into Louis’ hand; which just makes the situation worse for him when he feels Louis move inside of him and bump against his prostate.

Harry lets out a broken cry, tears leaking down his cheeks. Liam looks thoroughly _horrified_ ; stuck to the spot in fear.

‘Why don’t you come over here, Liam? Give Harry what he wants,’ Louis asks gently, his eyes saying a whole lot different to what was his tone is implying.

Harry’s whimpering quietly, fucking himself up into Louis’ hand; his mouth fallen open in a silent cry of pleasure.

‘I, I mean I c- _can’t_ ,’ Liam chokes out, shaking his head. ‘I don’t want to _hurt_ him, god - no!’ He looks absolutely terrified as he pores over Harry’s tear-stained cheeks and his wrecked sobs; Liam can’t _do_ that to someone!

‘No, I can take it,’ Harry insists, hiccupping towards the end of his sentence, another tear slipping down his flushed face.

‘But – you’re _crying_ ,’ Liam whispers, shifting his glance to look at all three of the people in front of him.

‘That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just a way of exertion or release,’ Zayn explains encouragingly.

Liam drops his focus to Harry, who’s nodding eagerly.

‘Are you sure? I don’t even really know what I’m doing,’ Liam says unsurely.

‘Now he admits it,’ Zayn mumbles under his breath.

‘It’s okay. We can work through it together, right Harry?’ Louis challenges, jamming a finger into Harry beside his cock and holding it there.

‘ _Fuck_ , yeah,’ Harry splutters, heart racing against his ribcage. Liam flinches, but works up enough courage to let go of Harry’s hand and leg (which Zayn takes in his free hand, sitting behind Harry’s head); moving around to kneel beside Louis.

‘Just take it slowly and gently,’ Louis advises, removing his finger. Liam just nods, spitting into his hand like he’d seen Louis do and pumping himself twice. He readies himself and takes a deep breath, holding it as he progressively pushes into Harry. It’s tight, _too_ tight, and Liam considers pulling out until he gets swept up in a rush of pleasure. Harry moans and clenches his hands into the bed sheets, supressing a sob.

‘Easy, babe,’ Zayn guides when Liam experimentally moves, causing himself, Louis, and Harry to let out synchronic groans. Louis pulls back as Liam pushes further in, and they pick up a rhythm; alternating.

‘ _Liam_ ,’ Harry cries when Liam pounds in particularly hard. The heat’s back again, and it’s getting too hot in the room. Harry doesn’t want the feeling to stop though, it‘s too _good_ , and he feels so full; so tired, but he lets the two of them keep going. Liam’s the first to come – bumping hips with Louis, emptying inside of Harry before pulling out quickly, bustling over to Zayn (who’s let go of Harry’s legs at Louis’ command); and proceeding to shake and cry into Zayn’s chest because it’s all so overwhelming.

Louis can’t help but feel a little bit guilty, seeing as he didn’t really do much to make Liam okay with the idea. He forgets about that quickly though, shifting to be right in front of Harry. Harry has instinctively wrapped his legs around Louis’ torso, and Louis does nothing to hold back – giving Harry everything and fucking into him so hard and fast that he forgets how to think. Somewhere off in the distance he can hear Harry telling him to _stop_ , that it’s too much; but he doesn’t know if he’s only imagining it. So, he doesn’t stop.

‘ _Sh-Shit_ , Lou, _Louis_ ,’ Harry keens, his back arching off of the bed and throwing his head back as he comes: shooting out onto his stomach and chest.

Louis can vaguely register Harry clenching firmly around him, and then he’s coming. It’s over too quickly, and he’s drawing himself out, being pulled up beside Harry to lie flat on his back. Liam and Zayn have sat up and shuffled up against the head-board, curling into the other’s embrace.

Harry just lies there; dizzy and spent. Everything hurts and he’s still crying, sniffling as he tries to catch his breath. Louis’s breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The four of them stay in stillness while they all calm down, and it isn’t until there’s no sign of any tears, struggling breaths or hiccups that Louis rolls onto his side. He doesn’t really know what to say after everything that’s just happened. It feels like no matter what he says, it won’t be the right thing. So, he settled for kissing instead. He tilts his head up to Zayn who’s staring down at him peacefully; and puckers his lips teasingly. Zayn rolls his eyes and smiles, leaning down to kiss Louis slowly and deeply. Louis moves onto Liam, giving him an extra tender and loving kiss to apologise for being a partial prick. And then it’s Harry’s turn. Dear, _dear_ Harry, who’s grinning – dazed – up at Louis, and reached a hand up to scratch through Louis’ hair, pulling him down and connecting their lips earnestly. 

Louis pulls back slowly after a while, and even though the bed is messy, ushers everyone into the bed. It isn’t a very comfortable fit with four bodies in the space of a double bed; but it doesn’t matter because they’re together and united. Well, minus one puzzle piece.

‘It feels weird without Niall,’ Harry says suddenly; the first one to talk and the one to say what everyone else is thinking.

The other three laugh almost but definitely agree.

‘Maybe next time,’ Louis jokes, prodding at Harry’s leg beneath the covers.

‘Seriously?’ Zayn asks, sounding genuinely interested.

Louis doesn’t reply for a little bit, until he’s thought about it.

‘Well, I can’t really see why not.’

‘That’ll be... intriguing,’ Liam responds from the far end of the bed, tucked up against Zayn’s side. Zayn elbows Louis when he laughs.

‘Guess we’ll just have to see what happens,’ a heavily Irish-accented voice from the doorway finishes.

All four heads shoot off the pillows at once, surprised to see none other than Niall leaning into the doorframe.

‘How long have you been standing there?’ Liam squeaks, his face turning a dusty shade of pink.

‘Oh, y’know, a while,’ Niall grins, folding his arms in front of him.

‘Fuck’s sake Ni, way to give us a heart attack,’ Zayn declares.

Louis doesn’t seem bothered about it though, and just sniggers. ‘Get over here,’ he persists, moving over a little in the bed. The other four follow and Niall laughs; sounding utterly like him. He clambers in next to Harry, his jeans an odd contrast against Harry’s bare skin.

Louis sighs happily.

‘Better,’ he declares, and feels around for Harry’s hand.

‘Hey, guys, I’m literally about to fall out of bed, so um, help,’ Liam complains, his voice muffled due to the fact he’s already half hanging out of the bed.

Zayn hauls him back up, clinging to him tightly.

Louis’s right when he says that it’s better with Niall. It’s always going to be the five of them against the world, and without all five of them together, they’re nothing. Without each other, they’re only Louis, Harry, Liam, Zayn, and Niall - but when they _are_ with each other, they’re so much more than that. So much more than they could ever be if none of this had ever happened, and none of them thinks they can ever explain how much just knowing the others has changed their lives: forever.

 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys enjoyedddddd :) apologies for any errors! please let me know if you spot one, i'll correct it ASAP!  
> tohmlinsohn on tumblr!!


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